


They All Fall Down

by Captain_Ammy



Series: Degrees of Isolation one-shots [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Goat Mom Is Best Mom, Lots of Crying, Parent Toriel (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 09:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12838713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Ammy/pseuds/Captain_Ammy
Summary: More of my Degrees of Isolation one-shots that I made while I was goofing off at work.Conarith hears Toriel crying in her room one night and goes to check on her.





	They All Fall Down

It was late at night, almost two in the morning when Conarith heard strange noises coming from Toriel’s bedroom after getting up to use the restroom.

When she drew near the door, she discovered that it was crying that she had heard. The realization hit her in the gut.

Crying. Toriel was crying.

She knocked. “Toriel?”

She could hear a gasp from the other side.

“Conarith?” came Toriel’s reply. She sounded broken. “Is that you, my child?”

“Is everything alright?” Conarith asked.

“Yes, my child, everything is fine,” said Toriel, but Conarith did not buy it.

“May I come in?” she asked.

There was a brief pause before Toriel finally responded, “You may.”

Conarith slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

The room was pitch black. If it were not for the nightlight illuminating the hall, she would not have been able to see Toriel in her current state.

The old goat woman looked completely disheveled, as if she were tossing and turning all night. Her eyes were puffy and the fur of her face was stained with her magical tears. The bed was covered in used tissues.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Toriel muttered. She turned on a lamp. She looked even worse under its light. “Forgive me.”

Conarith closed the door before rushing to kneel at Toriel’s bedside. “Oh Toriel, you did not wake me. What happened? Are you hurt?”

Toriel chuckled, her heart warmed at the sight of all this concern, and shook her head. “No, dear. I am not hurt.” She sniffed and dabbed a fresh tissue at her eyes. “I just had a terrible dream.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Conarith offered. “Would you like to talk about it?”

Toriel shook her head once more. “No, my child. But thank you.”

Conarith delicately held the goat woman’s hand. It completely swallowed her own. “Surely, there must be some way I can be of comfort to you. To see you like this…” She trailed off, too overcome to continue.

“Oh, Conarith,” Toriel cooed. She took back her hand and gently stroked Conarith’s face. “You need your rest. Do not concern yourself with my woes. They aren’t important.”

Conarith rested her hand over the one Toriel held to her face. “Toriel, do not say such things. I am here for you just as much as you are for me. You do not need to tell me whatever the matter is if you do not want to, but I _will_ do something to help you. A cup of tea, perhaps?”

Suddenly, Toriel burst into tears. Conarith was stunned; she had never seen Toriel like this before! Of course, she had seen her sad, even melancholy, but never like this. It took everything she had not to dissolve right alongside her.

“Oh, my child, please forgive me,” said Toriel when she managed to compose herself. “This is not something that I wanted you to ever see.”

“Toriel,” said Conarith softly. She blinked back tears; she could not cry now. Toriel needed her. “It truly was not my intention to impose, and I apologize. But perhaps this is a good thing. Whatever this is, I can tell that you have held it in for a long time.”

Toriel chuckled despite herself. “You’ve always been quite astute, my dear.” And then she sighed glumly. “I don’t want to trouble you.”

“Helping you would hardly be any trouble,” Conarith insisted. She climbed to her feet and went to grab the stool from Toriel’s vanity. She placed it at her bedside and sat down. “I am here for you.”

“Well, I suppose I ought to,” said Toriel. She reached for a tissue, only to find that the box was empty. “Oh, dear. Conarith, could you…?”

Conarith dutifully sprang to her feet and rushed off to find a fresh box. Less than a minute later, she produced one to Toriel and sat back down.

“Thank you, my dear,” said Toriel. She cleaned herself off as best she could before gathering all the used tissues up in one pile. “You’ve heard of boss monsters, correct?”

Conarith furrowed her brows. “Boss monsters? I do not believe I have come across such a term.”

“Well, a boss monster is the most powerful kind of monster there is,” Toriel explained. “Unlike others, we have the ability to live indefinitely.”

“That’s amazing!” Conarith exclaimed. “You yourself are a boss monster, yes?”

Toriel nodded. “Yes. I and Asgore both. As I’m sure you know, he and I were married.”

“Of course,” Conarith said.

“And you must know that we had two children before Frisk,” said Toriel.

Conarith’ eyes widened at the news. “No; I never knew. Who are they? Do they live here?”

Toriel gave her charge a blank stare. “You…never learned of my children?”

Conarith shook her head in the negative.

“But, how could that be?” Toriel mused. “No one has mentioned this to you? Not one?”

“Never,” Conarith admitted.

Toriel grew quiet as she contemplated the implications. Had they truly been forgotten by time?

“Toriel?” Conarith called when the silence went on a bit too long. She placed a hand on the goat woman’s arm, causing her to jump slightly in alarm.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “But yes, I did have two children a very long time ago. I was surprised that you had never heard of them, but I suppose I shouldn’t be. This new generation has mostly forgotten the old days. Of course, some things should be forgotten, but I do wonder about this generation; do the struggles of their ancestors mean nothing? Perhaps I’m too old to understand; a relic from a forgotten time.” She shook her head. “Forgive me, I’m rambling.”

“Well, I admit that I cannot exactly speak for them,” said Conarith, “but I do know that some things do get lost through time. This is why you are here; to bring forth the knowledge of old so that it is not completely lost.”

Toriel laughed bitterly. “Oh? Is that why I’m still here? If that is truly so, then these people would have been, to borrow a phrase from you young people, ‘SOL’ if things went as they should have.”

Conarith blushed at Toriel’s sudden crassness. “What do you mean by that?”

“Ah, forgive me. ‘SOL’ means–” Toriel began.

“No, no, no!” Conarith interrupted hurriedly. She laughed. “No; I know what it means! I meant, what did you mean when you said ‘if things went as they should have’?”

Toriel grew sullen and said nothing. Fresh tears had begun to pool in her eyes.

“Toriel, if this is too much, you do not have to continue,” said Conarith. “I do not like seeing you so distressed; please allow me to make you some tea, instead.” She motioned to stand, but Toriel grabbed her arm to stop her.

“No,” she said. “Please, stay.”

Conarith nodded. “Of course.”

“You must understand something,” said Toriel. “Forgive me if this sounds morbid, but I was never meant to live this long.” The tears fell. “I never wanted to live this long.”

“Oh, Toriel,” said Conarith softly. She grabbed a tissue and gently wiped Toriel’s face. “Do not say such things.”

The old goat woman scoffed. “Conarith, I cannot tell you exactly how old I am, but I have easily lived for over 2,000 years! I witnessed Gerson’s Becoming! In fact, I helped marry his parents!”

Conarith was stunned into silence.

“Can you imagine living for 2,000 years?” Toriel stated more than asked. “Asgore and I are perhaps the longest lived boss monsters in all of monster history, and our history, from what I can tell, dates back as far as 10,000 years.” She snorted in contempt. “I have lived a fifth of our combined history! I am old, and at this rate, I will be the oldest monster in existence! It seems impressive, but really, who would want such a thing?”

“Toriel,” Conarith muttered. “I did not realize. I–”

“All of my old friends, my family, everyone I ever grew up with and knew is gone,” Toriel continued, her voice rising. The tears flowed freely now. “A whole generation of monsters, completely disappeared off the face of this wretched Earth! And not just my own, but many others after! I have watched the world leave me behind! And my children…” She wailed, “Oh! Asriel! Chara!”

Conarith watched in horror as the former queen of the monsters broke down in front of her. She could not take this — she looked up to this woman. She was like a mother to her.

No, she _is_ her mother.

And with that realization, it all became too much for her to bear.

“Mother,” she moaned before she too burst into tears. “Oh, mother, I am so sorry!”

Toriel gasped. “Wh– What did you say?”

Conarith flinched. “I– I– I’m sorry! I overstepped my bounds, didn’t I? Please forgive me, I–”

“Hush, child!” Toriel sobbed. “Do not apologize; you don’t understand how I’ve longed for you to call me that!”

Conarith’s eyes widened in shock. “You have?”

“Of course, dear,” said Toriel. She wiped away Conarith’s tears. “I love you so much; you’re the daughter I wish I could have had. You would have made a lovely princess for our kingdom.”

Conarith’s face grew heated once more. “Oh, Toriel. I do not know about all of that.” She cleared her throat. “I love you, too. I hope you do not think that I did not; I just never knew if it was appropriate.”

Toriel smiled. “I know, dear.” She blew her nose. “Excuse me.”

“Of course,” said Conarith. She also blew her nose. “But I still do not understand. What does this all have to do with you being a boss monster? And your children?”

Toriel sighed. “They are gone, Conarith. They both died on the same day.”

Conarith cried out in alarm. “Oh my goodness! How dreadful! I am so sorry!”

“Thank you, dear,” said Toriel. “The reason I mentioned boss monsters is because that is the only way that we can age. When we have children, they sap away our magic in order to grow. After 20 to 30 years, they are fully grown, and the parents die.”

“But when the children are gone…” Conarith muttered.

Toriel nodded. “Precisely. I stopped aging and I left Asgore shortly after, so there were no more children to be had. Frisk did not form from my own soul, so they do not count. I will surely outlive them.”

“I can only imagine such a horror,” said Conarith sadly. “To lose both of your children at once?” She held herself in her arms and shuddered. “My goodness, how you must feel! I do not know how I could live with myself after all of that.”

“The hurt never truly goes away,” Toriel admitted. “It gets easier, I suppose, but it never goes away. It’s been hundreds of years and I still feel the pain.” She sniffed. “But I do not weep so much for them anymore. They are gone. They’ve been gone for a long time. I know I’ll never see them again.”

“Then why do you weep?” Conarith asked.

“Because,” Toriel tried to say, but her voice hitched in her throat. A shadow seemed to fall over her. She began to sob yet again. “Oh, Conarith! My child! I weep for Frisk! And now I weep for you!”

Conarith knelt to the floor and grabbed both of Toriel’s hands. “Mother, why do you weep for us?”

“I was never meant to live this long,” Toriel said. “I was never meant to see my children grow old. I never thought that I would love a human, but I do. I do, and it hurts me so. Your lives are so fleeting; in the blink of an eye, you both will be gone. I will have to bury you. A thousand more years will pass and all that will be left are your bones. I never thought I would contemplate something so evil, but how could I go on without you?”

Conarith grew hot with shame, but the feeling was brief; Toriel’s opinions were her own. And she had to admit, the thought of Toriel taking her own life was distressing.

“Please, do not do that,” Conarith pleaded. “Perhaps you could be there for our children, and their children, afterwards.”

Toriel offered her a watery smile. “Yes. I suppose so. But they too, I will eventually bury.”

Conarith went quiet at that.

The old goat woman patted Conarith’s cheek. “I don’t mean to depress you. It’s just something that I have to live through. It’s hard, yes, but I wouldn’t trade my lot for anything. Not even for my lost children. If they lived and I died, I would never have gotten to the surface.” She smiled. “I never would have met you. I love you, and Frisk of course, more than anything. I know I haven’t always done right by you two, especially Frisk, but I will always love you.”

Conarith suddenly jumped up and embraced Toriel. The goat woman was shocked at first, but she quickly wrapped her arms around her new child.

The two stayed in each other’s embrace for what felt like eternity, lost in the comfort it brought them.

The whole world seemed to stop for them. All that could be heard was the chirping of the crickets outside.

Finally, they parted.

Toriel cupped Conarith’s face in her hands and kissed her forehead. “Thank you, my daughter.”

“Of course,” said Conarith with a bow. She stood to her feet and walked over to the other side of the bed. She climbed in.

“Conarith?” Toriel questioned as her human daughter situated herself underneath the blankets and snuggled next to her.

“I do not want you to be alone,” she explained. “You were there for me when I was alone; allow me to do the same.”

“Oh, Conarith,” Toriel sighed. She kissed Conarith’s forehead once more. “You truly are a gift.” She laid back onto her pillow and turned off the lamp. “Good night, my child.”

“Good night, mother,” Conarith replied. “I love you.”

Toriel choked back tears of happiness.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this saccharine mess of tears, comment if you can. As always always always, critisism is welcome and necessary.
> 
> Edit (12/6/17): Hey, so I noticed that a few people subscribed to the story. That's great! I'm really glad to know that there's some people out there who think these little ravings are good enough to want more. However, being that these are one-shots, I'm just letting ya'll know now that they most likely won't ever be continued, so if you want to follow more of my stuff, you can subscribe to my penname instead. But, if you only care about this particular story and you really wanna know what was supposed to lead into this, feel free to drop me a line; I'm more than happy to tell you, or even write another little short if you REALLY want it!


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